What entered Myung-jun’s field of view as he regained consciousness were the faces of his comrades who had been with him on the reconnaissance mission he participated in just before his discharge.
Seeing the nostalgic faces he hadn’t forgotten for over 30 years, Myung-jun could quickly recall the situation that would happen in the future.
With about a month left until his discharge, Myung-jun had embarked on a mission to search for Monsters alongside his squad leader, Kim Hak-won.
At the time, the monsters, referred to as ‘Alien’, occasionally found throughout the country, had ruggedness that made them tough to take down even with firearms due to their wildness and strength to tear humans apart while still alive. However, they were certainly beings that could be ‘killed’.
Thus, in response to the discovery of these Aliens reported in the DMZ, the military headquarters dispatched a unit armed with K2 rifles, marking the beginning of the tragedy.
In an old warehouse of an abandoned artillery unit, the alien they encountered was not a Rank 1 monster that could be taken down with guns and knives, but rather a Rank 2 monster whose information had been kept classified until then.
‘I’ll take care of this. I’ve always wanted to fire off a burst and see it cool down.’
A unit member who aimed rapid fire at the monster with a confident expression was pierced through by the monster’s fangs before even emptying a single magazine.
Then, the monster, taken aback, started slaughtering Myung-jun’s unit members who hadn’t been able to initiate proper gunfire due to their surprise.
“Disperse and take cover! Guns won’t work! Attempt an escape, and survivors, regardless of what happens, report to headquarters!”Kim Hak-won, though bewildered, calmly issued orders.
Then, as if urging the monster to attack him, the unit members began running in the opposite direction of the spot where they gathered, shouting loudly toward the monster.
“You damn son of a bitch! Come this way, aaaaah!”
The monster, who seemed to understand the intention through the tone rather than the content, turned its body toward the shouting unit member, and then, the monster, pursued the unit member as they ran toward the forest.
Thanks to that, the remaining soldiers could obtain hope of saving their lives. Unfortunately, however, it marked the beginning of another despair.
As soon as the Rank 2 monster disappeared, a group of Rank 1 Monster appeared.
Though the monsters that followed weren’t difficult to deal with if they were shot at with concentrated fire while remaining calm, to the soldiers who had to witness their comrades’ deaths right in front of them, all those monsters looked like the one from just a moment ago that had been deflecting bullets.
In the end, amidst numerous colleagues who gave up on counterattacking and attempted to escape, Myung-jun had only one action he could take.
Prepare for death and follow the final order of the squad leader who lured the monster.
Although Myung-jun did his best to fulfill his role as the squad leader, at that time, all he could do was barely protect his own life, not even saving his unit members.
Myung-jun eventually used up all the rounds in his magazine and, as if that weren’t enough, shot the deranged monster as it was killing his comrades.
Then, attempting to contact the headquarters with the 999K radio carried by the communications soldier, but the radio didn’t work.
In the situation where communication with headquarters was blocked, what crossed Myung-jun’s mind was a cell phone the squad leader carried. if it was locked by a password, at the very least, the emergency call function should still work.
With the slight possibility that the squad leader might still be alive, Myung-jun walked toward the direction where the squad leader was headed, holding onto hope.
Then, he heard an unfamiliar explosion, something he hadn’t heard since his training days.
‘Grenade?!’
Rushing towards the source of the sound, what Myung-jun discovered were the squad leader, with one arm severed and blood splattered everywhere, pushing his arm into the monster’s mouth as if shoving a grenade inside, and the Rank 2 monster whose insides were exposed as if they had burst from within, as though the internal organs had detonated like a bomb.
Upon seeing this scene, Myung-jun immediately grasped the situation.
The simple and brave squad leader who risked his life to save the soldiers had shoved his arm into the monster’s mouth, holding a grenade in one hand.
‘I remember.’
Myung-jun recalled not only the memories from that time but also the emotions of sorrow he felt from his current physical body, causing his eyes to well up.
“Uuhh…”
Despite the grenade detonating inside, the Rank 2 monster, still alive, was surprisingly recovering from its wounds while lying on the ground.
However, Myung-jun paid no attention to the monster and approached Kim Hak-won, who was sitting on the ground.
He grabbed Kim Hakwon’s remaining arm and spoke.
“Squad leader.”
“….gh… Did the squad members…?”
“Thanks to you, all the squad members escaped safely. We also completed the report to headquarters.”
“That’s… fortunate…”
“No, even so, how can you do something so foolish? Aren’t you planning to get married soon?”
“Damn it. What should I do… Even though guns don’t work… I still managed to… give it a shot… Did you see?”
“I saw.”
“I see… Give me a cigarette.”
“You know I don’t smoke.”
“In my right… top pocket.”
Myung-jun took out a cigarette and lit it, taking a sip and then passing it to Kim Hak-won.
After taking a sip of the cigarette, Kim Hak-won coughed slightly, blood mixing in, then smiled bitterly as he looked at the extinguished cigarette.
“I’m probably done for.”
“The medical team is coming.”
“By then, it’s probably too late. But at least one thing is fortunate, you’re alive. At least compared to me surviving alone after all the squad members died.”
Continuing the conversation was difficult for Myung-jun.
Painful memories he had tried to forget for 32 years were now a reality, ruthlessly gnawing at his heart. Yet, Myung-jun couldn’t avert his gaze.
At least, in the current situation, all he could do was listen to Kim Hak-won’s final words.
And finally, after 32 long years, Kim Hak-won brought up the phrase that Myung-jun had never forgotten, though he had tried to erase it from his memory.
“You’re a good guy.”
“No, I’m just a lazy one.”
“A sergeant who’s desperately hiding the fact that all his comrades have perished to ease the dying person’s mind is a good sergeant.”
“Did you know?”
“Their blood is darker than humans’. The blood and flesh on your body probably aren’t theirs.”
“I’m sorry for lying.”
“No, what could you have done wrong? If anyone’s at fault, it’s those fools who sent soldiers out to battle without proper information.”
Hak-won grabbed Myung-jun’s with the remaining arm. The strength he felt in that grip was beyond belief, considering he was a dying man.
“Go. Today’s events are not your fault. So don’t talk nonsense about avenging anything and stupidly not leaving the army.”
“Leader…”
“Because you have a stronger sense of responsibility than anyone else. The world is probably becoming completely different from the world we knew. Perhaps those monsters will end up covering the entire Earth. In front of creatures that guns and cannons are ineffective against, human strength is incredibly feeble. At least, if possible, stay by your family’s side during these times. And…”
Though life was fading from Hak-won’s eyes, he squeezed out his last words.
“Tell her for me. That I was brave until the end.”
“I will.”
“Ha… fu… I… don’t want to die…”
Hak-won’s voice trembled as he spoke his final words.
Despite his resolution to accept death calmly, he groaned in fear of approaching death
However, Myung-jun closed his eyes in response and quietly moved away.
“Let’s pretend I didn’t hear your last words.”
Then he drew the K5 pistol from Hak-won’s waist and moved to where the monster was.
The struggling monster chest had almost fully regenerated.
“If you creatures were capable of thinking, you’d probably be thinking like this right now. ‘After all, that gun can’t harm me. If only I can regenerate my wounds, I could easily tear someone like you apart.'”
Myung-jun said, aiming the muzzle of the pistol at the creature’s head after pulling the slide to load the pistol.
“My gun is a bit different.”
In an instant, a beam of light, accompanied by a dazzling radiance from the pistol in Myung-jun’s hand, shot forth, and that light pierced through the monster’s skin, which had easily repelled rifle bullets just a moment ago, as if negating its resilience.
As he looked at the creature, now dead with his eyes still wide open, Myung-jun spat on the ground and then inserted his hand into the creature’s still-open chest.
“This is my awakening trigger.”
Before his regression, Myung-jun hadn’t managed to listen to Hak-won’s words until the end.
He was overwhelmed by fear and panic, especially since a creature was regenerating wounds right beside him.
At that time, Myung-jun, in his confusion, attempted to grasp the mysterious light emanating from his wound without even realizing it, and in that instant, he was able to awaken his abilities.
In a near-hopeless state, he had picked up the K2 rifle from beside him and attempted an attribute transformation before firing it at the Rank 2 monster, who was screaming in agony.
If the situation were the same as back then, he, who possessed the same body as of 32 years ago, would have been able to awaken through the resonance with the mana stone within this monster’s body.
However, just before he could touch the mana stone buried in the warm flesh, Myung-jun halted his movement and withdrew his hand.
It was due to an instinctive sensation, as if it was the right thing to do, not because someone instructed him.
‘If I awaken like this, I might get caught as an awakener and be captured by the army. Besides, since its mana stone itself anyway, I can clear a Rank 4 gate by myself, and get it later.’
With that decision made, Myung-jun lifted his body and walked towards where the Kim Hak-won was lying.
Then, he took out the phone from within his pocket and checked the contacts before contacting the headquarters.
A monster different from the humanoid was discovered and eliminated, and the unit members who participated in the search operation, except for himself, were annihilated.
Afterward, he sat down by the discarded tire near the battlefield and quietly waited. He was waiting for ‘that man’ to rush to this location as soon as he heard his report.
A while later, a helicopter descended onto the vacant lot with swirling dust, raising a mixture of soil and blood, and from within, a group of soldiers clad in uniforms with full armor surrounded Myung-jun.
Myung-jun looked at the soldiers aiming their guns at him.
They were not using the standard K2 rifles used by regular South Korea soldiers, instead, they were expensive-looking foreign firearms that one might see in a movie.
When Myung-jun raised his hands to show he was unarmed, the soldiers lowered their guns and split to each side.
Then, a man descended from the helicopter and approached Myung-jun.
“Sergeant Cha Myung-jun, affiliated with the 702nd Reconnaissance Company, 2nd Battalion Headquarters, under the 2nd Division. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t salute a superior officer you encountered?”
“It’s my last days, please understand. I just managed to overcome a crisis a moment ago.”
Even though he was still a soldier, Myung-jun was well aware of the military etiquette that dictated saluting when encountering a superior officer.
However, Myung-jun had absolutely no desire to salute the man standing before him.
The man who had erased his existence 32 years ago, imprisoned him in the underground of the Ministry of National Defense, and made him do nothing but hammer things— that man was the one standing before him.
“Captain Moon Hee-cheol of the Ministry of National Defense, Entity Response and Containment Battalion. I have some matters to report from now, so board the helicopter and wait. Where is the corpse of the monster?”
Myung-jun pointed towards the forest behind him.
Upon receiving Hee-cheol’s instructions, the soldiers swiftly moved towards the forest.
A while later, soldiers who had grabbed the four limbs of the monster brought its body to the helicopter. Observing the state of the monster’s body, Hee-cheol spoke.
“It was a monster that bullets couldn’t pierce. How did you manage to capture it?”
“Our squad leader stuck a grenade in the monster’s mouth. It exploded due to the internal pressure, blowing out its internal organs.”
“However, its wounds were regenerating. And these injuries are not from the grenade that exploded inside its abdomen. They’re from a special attack it received to the head. We’ll have to perform an autopsy to know for sure, but these wounds were caused by a unique ability. Anything else you want to add?”
Hee-cheol seemed to deliberately emphasize the word ‘special ability’ as he spoke, placing extra emphasis on it. However, Myung-jun tilted his head and addressed him.
“When I arrived, there were only the corpses of the monster and the squad leader who had already died. As for the head wound, I’m not sure.”
“Is that so?”
“Do you need further explanation?”
At that moment, a soldier who had been examining the chest wound approached Hee-cheol and whispered to him.
“The crystal is intact.”
“No resonance was detected?”
“The intensity of the light and the state of the crystal are the same as previously reported. If anything, it seems to be in better condition than before. There doesn’t appear to have been any usage.”
Only then did Hee-cheol nod slightly and turn to Myung-jun.
“I’m sorry. There’s something that needs to be clarified. It’s just that. Well then, you’re saying you don’t know anything about the wound on this monster’s head?”
“As I reported.”
“Understood. I know you’ve been through a lot today and you’re very tired. However, the situation you’re entangled in goes beyond the future of our country; it’s a crucial matter that concerns the survival of humanity. So, come with me for a moment. We’ll make sure to contact your affiliated unit.”
“Are you saying I need to go with you? I’ve already told you everything I know.”
“That’s not enough. I’ll explain the cicumstances in more detail. Board the helicopter. We’ll discuss the rest while en route.”
Myung-jun followed him silently. In his current state, he was nothing more than a mere ‘soldier’ with neither the right nor the ability to refuse his orders.
However, the glint in Myung-jun’s eyes as he followed was filled with a resolute determination for what was to come, shining endlessly with unwavering resolve.
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